Latch



0]. 10, 1950 A. c. BRADSHAW Luca Filed Julie 2, -194a INVENTOR. v Almon C. Brads/(aw. BY 7 Patented Oct. 10, 1950 U N I STATES PATENT OFFICE LATCH Almond Clifford Bradshaw, Mascot, Tenn;

Application June 2, 1948, SerialNo. 30,661

4 Claims. 11 This invention relates-to latches, and more particularly to alatch to be mounted on oneof two relatively movable parts, such as=amovable closure member of any suitable character, whether slidable, hinged or otherwise movable into and out I of closed-position, to retain s aid parts in a predetermined relationship. When used with a closuremember such member may be of any suitable type, as a panel, door cover, windowsash or screen, 01' other member adapted to move with respect to any appropriate opening.

It is anobject of this invention to provide an improved latch which is of particularly simple construction so that it may be fabricated at low cost and without requiring highly skilled labor.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved latch which includes a pin or the like mounted on a movable part and movable by a simple manipulation into an aperture in a second part in which it is retained bythe cooperation of the component members of the latch.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved latch of the type-last characterized wherein the pin isso mounted that the aperture provided forreceiving thepinor-thelike does not have to be elongated because of arcuate movement of the pin.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved latch which primarily relies upon friction for retaining the parts intheir latching position.

Another object of-this invention is to provide an improved latch of" the type last characterized which may be-readilymanipulated to obtain the desired friction in the event that after prolonged use wear diminishes the friction to an-undesirable amount.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved latch which may be-easily swung into and out of latching position by a mere pivotal movement of the latching memberandwhich 'will maintain the latchedrelationship without requiring any additional movement of the parts.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved IELtChyOf the types heretofore characterized wherein lockingmeans may be readily incorporated to prevent unauthorized unlatching movement of the latching member.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved latch as heretofore characterized 3-";

which may be readily mounted in position by screws, nails or comparable attaching elements and wherein access to at least one of the attaching elements is prevented as long as the latching member is in its latched position.

Other objects will appear as the description of the invention proceeds.

Referring in detail to theaccompanying drawing wherein the same reference characters are channel of member I 8 is the largerso asto receive used in the several figures to designate corre- 2U spq ngp a Fig. l is a diagrammatic view illustrating the invention-as applied to sliding closure members in closed and openpositions;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view showing in full line the latch in latched position andin dottedlin-e the latch in unlatched position;

Fig. 3 is a face view of the latch as shown in Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a side view of the latch as shown in Fig.- 2.

The present invention hasparticular utility as a readily manipulatable latch that may be mounted on the slidable panels of show cases so as to minimize pilfering, whether said panels be of single or multipleconstruction, and therefore, by way of exemplifying the present invention, a show case W is diagrammatically illustrated in Fig. l as having an opening II which is closed by a pair of sliding panels l2: and I3. The latch of the present invention, generally designated M in Fig. 1, is adapted to. be mounted on one of said panels, asthe panel [2, andicooperate with aligned apertures l5. and It in. the panels for locking said panels against relative displacement.

7 Referring now to Figs. 2, 3. and 4, the latch as illustrated comprises two relatively movable members, a relativel stationarymember ll adapted to be fixedly secured in position on one of the relatively movable parts to be latched together and a movablelatching member 18 for movement into and out of cooperative relationship with the member ll; Member I1 is channel shaped in cross. section withthe channel facing outwardly, and comprises .a base wall 19 anda pair of upstanding. lateral walls 20 and 2!. Member Il may be mounted in position in any suitable way as by screws 22 passed through holes 23 in the base wall [9. and into the material of the part i2 to. Which it is secured. Latching member i8 is also of channel-shaped cross section but with the channel facing inwardly,.and comprises abase wall 24 and a pairof lateral walls 25 and 26.

Latching member I8 is shown as pivotally mounted in anysuitable way on the relatively stationary. member I Lalthough other suitable character of movement couldbe used,.so that it may move into and, outof aposition wherein its lateral walls 25. and 2E overlap and lie along side of the lateral walls 2!].ahd. 21 in frictional engagement with the latter. In the form illustrated the slidably the lateralwallsZUand}! oi=member l1, although this is, not, essential, as the channel of member 18 maypfit slidably into the channel of.

member [1. To the foregoingend a pivot pin. 21 is passed through suitable holes in. the respective lateral walls 25,20,2l1land 26 and mayberetained in walls 25 and 26 in any suitable way, as by up.-

to the relatively stationary member H, and to this end a spring 28 of any suitable construction is wrapped around pivot pin 27 and tends to separate said members. As shown it has its ends 29 in engagement with the under face of the wall 24 while its intermediate portion is formed into a leaf 30 in engagement with the face of the wall I9.

Pivotally mounted in any suitable way on the latching member i8 is a locking pin 3! which extends slidably through a guide opening 42 in wall I9. As here shown, a relatively short channel-shaped member 32 is attached at its bottom wall 33 to the wall 24 of the latching member [8, as by one or more rivets 34. The lateral walls 35 and 36 of said member 32 carry a pin 3'? which is secured therein in any suitable way, as by upsetting the ends of the pin. Locking pin 3! is shown as a simple rod or wire having its end 38 formed into an eye to receive the pin 37, and of such length that when the members H and 58 are in frictional engagement or closed position the pin projects to the desired extent into aperture it, but when the members ii and 18 are angularly displaced to the dotted line position shown in Figs. 2 and 4 or open position the end of the pin is withdrawn into aperture I5. To limit the angular movement of member IS a suitable stop is provided, the ends of walls 29 and 2! adjacent the pivot 2i being shown as beveled at 33 and engaging the inner face of wall 26 to limit the extent of movement of member it under the action of the spring 2%.

Owing to the pivotal mounting of the pin 3i it may pivot around the axis defined by the pivot 37 and move rectilinearly in the pair of aligned openings l5 and [6 without need for the latter openings being elongated because of the arcuate movement imparted to the pin by the pivotal movement of the latching member l8 around its axis 21.

Latching member I 8 is provided with any suitable finger piece for manually manipulating the same. As illustrated, the wall 24 of member i8 is extended as a strip and formed into a loop 39, and as here illustrated said extension is integral with bottom wall 33 of channel-shaped member 32 so that the channel-shaped members 24, 25 and 26, the loop Stand the channel-shaped member 33, 35 and 38 may be stamped in one piece from sheet metal.

If it is desired to provide the latch as so far described with means whereby member l8 may be locked against relative displacement with respect to member [1, a hasp 40 may be secured to the bottom wall I9 of the relatively stationary member I! and extend through a slot 41 in the wall 24. Therefore when the latching member 13 is in latching position as shown in full lines in Fig. 2 the hasp 30 projects through the slot 4| and any suitable padlock or comparable looking device may be applied thereto to prevent manual manipulation of member IS.

The members ii and E8 of the latch may be made of any suitable material that will afford the desired frictional engagement from the rubbing or sliding engagement of the lateral walls 29, 2! and 25, 2!).- Metal is preferred because of inherent resiliency, and therefore the members ill and i8 may bemade of brass, aluminum or other comparable metals.

To install the latch, the relatively movable parts i2 and I3 are bored to provide the pair of aligned apertures 55 and it. Where as preferred the pin Si is round in cross section the apertures I5, 16 may be round, although as 'will 4 be apparent other cross sections of the pin and holes 1 5, it may be used if preferred. The latch is then secured to the closure member [2, as by the screws 22 or any other suitable attaching means, so that the pin lies within the aperture i5. Then, when the latching member [8 is closed into frictional engagement with the relatively stationary member 11, the locking pin 3! is pro- 'ected from the aperture [5 into the aperture I6 to latch the relatively movable parts together. When so mounting the latch in position it will be observed that not only is the upper aperture 23, as viewed in the drawing, easily accessible, but with the latching member 18 in its outer or unlatched position the lower aperture 23 as viewed in the drawing is equally easy of access. In operation the latching function is effected by merely moving the latching member I! from the dotted line position shown in Figs. 2 and l to the full line position as shown in these figures, such movement being easily and quickly effected by pressure on the finger piece 39. This pivotal movement of the latching member i8inserts the loclnng pin 3i from the aperture i5 into the aperture it, the locking pin pivoting on its axis 3? so as to move rectilinearly with respect to said apertures. Owing to the friction existing between the engaged slidable lateral walls 20, 2| and 25, 26 when the sides of the channel-shaped members El and is are brought into face contact and lateral alignment the latching member 18 is frictionally retained in the latched position. To release the latch it is merely necessary to apply pressure to the finger piece 39 which pivots the latching member i8 outwardly with respect to the relatively stationary member [7 until the spring 28 carries said member l8 to its outer angular position as shown in dotted lines in Figs. 2 and 4, in which position it is stopped by the beveled extremities 33 of the walls 20 and 2! engaging the wall 24. In thisposition the look-- ing pin 3| is withdrawn from the aperture I6 into the aperture i5 sufficiently so as to free the part 2 with respect to part l3.

If it is desired to lock the latch against manual operation a hasp ill projecting through the slot ll in the member 18 affords ready provision for the application of a padlock thereto. If such locking is not desired the hasp and slot 40, 4! may be omitted. When the latching member I8 is in closed or latched position it completely shields the lower screw 22 so that it is impossible to gain access to the latter for the purpose of removing the latch.

Experience has demonstrated that there is sufficient friction between the lateral walls 20', 2| and 25, 26 of the two channel-shaped members ii and 18 so that the latching member IB will be effectively retained by friction in its latched position even after a relativel long period of frequent use. However, as will be apparent, in the event that the wear arising from the rubbing movement of the relativel slidable lateral walls 2t, 2!, 25, reduces the friction to a point tion for retaining the latching member in itsclosed or latching position;

To increase the frictional grip. between the members ill and if, when in closed position the loop 39 may be, and preferably is, slightly tapered inwardly so as t have a small wdgingaction on the free ends of the walls and 2| as the member l8 moves to closed position as shown in full lines in Fig. 4. Thereby walls 20 and 2i are spread out to a slight extent at the same time that the walls and 26 move into embracingrelationship with said walls 20, 2|, whereby the latter are urged with increased friction against the walls 25, 26. However, this provision for increasing the friction is a refinement which may be omitted when sufiicient friction is developed by the Sliding contact between walls 20, 25 and 2 I, 26.

It will therefore be perceived that the present invention provides a particularly simple and highly efiicient latching means that may be readily manipulated. The channel-shaped members may :be readily pressed out of sheet metal, and as all of the parts are easy to fabricate and assemble the latch may be made at low cost. As friction is exclusively relied on in retaining the latching member in its latching position relative movement between the parts other than the pivotal movement of the latching member into and out of latching position is avoided. Owing to the pivotal mounting of the locking pin the apertures in the relatively movable parts to be latched together may be made of simple cross section, preferabl round, without elongation to take care of the pivotal movement of the locking pin. The latch is easily installed, and when installed the latching member shields the attaching means so that the latch cannot be removed as long as the latch is closed. If through wear the friction is undesirably decreased the latch can be easily treated to restore the desired friction. If provision for locking the latching member against unauthorized opening is desired, this is readily effected by providing the hasp as explained. Therefore, the present invention provides a particularly simple and highly efficient latch that may be applied to a wide variety of uses.

While the invention has been shown as applied as a latch to prevent movement between relatively slida'ble panels, it is to be expressly understood that the invention is not limited to such use, as it may be equally applied to latching a single panel against sliding movement or to latching hinged panels or other closure members in a predetermined position. Similarly, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the latch is equally applicable to the retention in closed position of doors, covers, window sashes and screens, e c.

While the embodiment of the invention illustrated on the drawing has been described with considerable particularity, it is to be expressly understood that the invention is not limited thereto, as the same is capable of receiving a variety of expressions, as will now be apparent to those skilled in the art, and changes may be made in the details of construction, size, arrangement, proportion, materials, etc., and parts ma be replaced by equivalent parts, without departing from the spirit of this invention. Reference is therefore to be had to the appended claims for a definition of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A latch for securing two relatively movable parts together comprising a channel-shaped member adapted to be attached to one of said parts, a channel-shaped member pivotally mounted on said first named member, said channcl-shaped members being of such size that the lateral walls of one of said members are received slidably and retained frictionally by the lateral walls of the other of said members, a lockin pin mounted on said second named member and operable thereby when said two members are brought into frictional engagement for movement into interlocking engagement with aligned apertures in said parts, and a spring interposed between said members for normally urging them out of said frictional engagement.

2. A latch for securing two relatively movable parts together including a member adapted to be mounted on one of said parts, a second member movably mounted on said first member, said members having surfaces extending lengthwise thereof and frictionally engageable by movement of said second member toward said first member to retain said second member frictionally in its position of engagement with said first member, a locking pin mounted on said second member and moved thereby with respect to aligned aperatures in said parts when said second member is moved into and out of frictional engagement with said first member, and a spring interposed between said members for urging said second member away from said first member.

3. A latch for securing two relatively movable parts together including a member adapted. to be mounted on one of said parts, a second member pivotally mounted on said first member and movable to an angle with respect thereto, said members having surfaces extending lengthwise thereof and frictionally engageable when said second member is moved to bring said surfaces into lateral alignment to retain said secondmember frictionally in said last named position, a locking pin mounted on said second member and moved thereby with respect to aligned apertures in said parts when said second member is pivoted into and out of its frictional engagement with said first member, and a spring cooperating with said members and normally tending to move said second member into its position of angular relationship with respect to said first member.

4. A latch for securing two relatively movable parts together including a member adapted to be mounted on one of said parts, a second member pivotally mounted on said first member and movable to an angle with respect thereto, said members having surfaces extending lengthwise thereof and frictionally engageable when said second member is moved to bring said surfaces into lateral alignment to retain said second member frictionally in said last named position, a

locking pin mounted on said second member and movedthereby with respect to aligned apertures in said parts'when said second member is pivoted into and out of its frictional engagement with said first member, and a spring cooperating with said members and normally tending to move said second member into its position of angular relationship with respect to said first member, said members having means cooperating to stop the relative movement between said members before said locking pin is disengaged from the aperture in the part on which said first member is mounted.

ALMOND CLIFFORD BRADSHAW.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent: 

